NFL Box Score Breakdown: Snaps, Routes, Air Yards and Personnel from Week 5

The start of byes makes my work as a fantasy writer a little easier and my "work" as a fantasy manager a little harder. We've got 14 games to look at this week, instead of 16, which allows me time to take a deeper dive for some of the more interesting teams/situations.

The headline for Week 5 was Cooper Kupp and Jonathan Taylor making their season debuts after stints on IR/PUP. Kupp jumped right back into his accustomed every-down role and emerged with triple-digit yardage, while Taylor took a clear backseat to Zack Moss in a backfield split that essentially was the opposite of what most of us had imagined this summer.

Vocab/Index

• DB = QB dropbacks = pass attempts + sacks
• RTs = Routes
• RT% = Percentage of team dropbacks on which the player ran a route
• aDOT = Average Depth of Target
• AY = Air Yards
• TS SZN = Percentage of team targets this season
• AY SZN = Percentage of team air yards this season

Personnel Groupings

• 11 = 1 RB / 1 TE / 3 WR
• 12 = 1 RB / 2 TE / 2 WR
• 21 = 2 RB / 1 TE / 2 WR
• 13 = 1 RB / 3 TE / 1 WR
• 01 = 0 RB / 1 TE / 4 WR

Any RB/WR/TE with a touch, carry or snap share of at least 10 percent is listed below. Any personnel grouping used on at least 10 percent of snaps is listed, in addition to rates for 11 and 12 personnel (by far the two most popular sets league-wide).

Color-coding shows players whose snap/route shares increased or decreased compared to previous weeks as a result of an injury, coach's decision, role change or team change in personnel groupings. Not included are any changes that strictly were due to a game being a blowout, because it doesn't usually matter much for future weeks. I'll also ignore when Tyreek Hill misses out on snaps/routes because he's tired from catching so many passes. Mike McDaniel is more fatigue-sensitive than other coaches, and if Hill gets fewer routes and snaps it's often actually a good thing (for both Miami and fantasy managers).

Commanders (20) at Bears (40) 

• Commanders Personnel: 11 - 89% / 12 - 8%
• 56 DBs — 8.1 aDOT — 37-of-51 for 388 yards — 2 TDs, 1 INT, 5 sacks

• Washington now has nine players above 5% target share, including four at 14% or better, with nobody above 17.3 (Terry McLaurin).
• After the big Thursday night, Logan Thomas has 25 targets in 3.5 games. 
  • Cole Turner has 12 targets, including eight during the six quarters of play Thomas missed,  which means that the receiving/move TE role has accounted for more targets than both McLaurin and Jahan Dotson have individually.
    • I'm less worried about McLaurin because he has such a long track record, and with multiple QBs, plus he's shown he can catch passes at every part of the field. I still think Dotson is a good player, but what we've seen so far this season is about one-third of his career as a pro. It's a bit harder to blame his lack of production entirely on Sam Howell and Eric Bieniemy.
  • And then blocking TE John Bates has 10 targets, so the three combined account for 26.3 percent of the team total. The only TE rooms with larger shares at the conclusion of TN were in Atlanta, Arizona, Kansas City and Minnesota (as of Thursday night). Two of those teams have great TEs; the other three share something else in common.
• Brian Robinson finished with single-digit carries for the first time all year. Washington trailed by two or three scores for most of the night, which left him with far fewer snaps and touches than usual. There wasn't any meaningful role change.
  • Antonio Gibson's solid receiving line doesn't really come with any fantasy optimism given that he got zero carries. Robinson is still dominating carries and getting nearly half the RB targets as well.
• Sam Howell loves to exit a clean pocket, run around like a madman and then fire a dart between two defenders seven yards down the field. He's good at it, to be fair, but it's a brand of high-risk, low-reward, anti-probabilistic football that probably makes Peyton Manning want to smash his massive forehead into a wall repeatedly.
  • Do less, big fella. Even if you have the skill to hit 19-foot jumpers over two defenders, you're never gonna get anywhere if it's something you're doing regularly and intentionally rather than only in desperate moments.
  • The Houston version of Deshaun Watson also held the ball a long time and sometimes ran around when he didn't need to. The difference is that Watson was good at finding guys downfield and hitting them for big gains to make up for the sacks and other negative plays. It's gonna take an awful lot of seven-yard passes to Logan Thomas and Cole Turner to make up for all the dumb stuff Howell has done while trying to extend plays.
  • I rant because I care, Sam. It's all from a place of love. And also maybe because I have some combination of Howell, Jahan Dotson and Terry McLaurin in most of my dynasty leagues.

• Bears Personnel: 11 - 42% / 12 - 42%
• 32 DBs — 10.6 aDOT — 15-of-29 for 282 yards — 4 TDs, 0 INT, 3 sacks

• Roschon Johnson was concussed in the first quarter, and third-stringer/special-teamer Travis Homer left with a hamstring injury before playing any offensive snaps. Then, Khalil Herbert suffered a high-ankle sprain in the second half, leaving FB Khari Blasingame as the only "running back" active.
  • Herbert is expected to miss multiple weeks, but Johnson could be ready for Week 5 at Minnesota (10 days after his concussion).
  • The Bears still have D'Onta Foreman. He's been a healthy scratch of late.
• DJ Moore blew up for a second straight week, and his target/AY shares for the season are now right where we expected. What we didn't expect — or at least I didn't — was for Moore to be the most efficient receiver in the league on a per-target basis (he's also right up there with Tyreek Hill in terms of per-route production.
• I thought Darnell Mooney vs. Cole Kmet for second fiddle would be a real competition. It even looked that way the first couple weeks, but through five games Kmet has twice as many targets as Mooney.
• The Bears used motion on 72% of snaps, up from 67% in Week 4 and 49% from Weeks 1-3. Matchups with bad defenses have been a bigger factor, but the increased use of motion does seem to be helping... as is usually the case for both NFL and NCAA offenses.

Stock ⬆️:   QB Justin Fields & WR DJ Moore / TE Logan Thomas

Stock ⬇️:   WR Jahan Dotson

Injury 🚑:   RBs Khalil Herbert (ankle), Roschon Johnson (concussion) & Travis Homer (hammy)

Jaguars (25) at Bills (20) 

• Jaguars Personnel: 11 - 62% / 12 - 23% / 13 - 12%
• 42 DBs — 8.2 aDOT — 25-of-37 for 315 yards — 1 TD, 0 INTs, 5 sacks

• Travis Etienne had season highs across the board for rushing and scored TDs from 6 and 35 yards out in the fourth quarter.
  • ETN also had a carry from the 5-yard line, a two-point conversion and a 3rd-and-1 conversion... all after Tank Bigsby got stuffed on a 3rd-and-1 on the opening drive.
  • Taking your best back off the field for a lesser player on the most important running plays because the backup is a few pounds heavier is a classic example of NFL coaches shooting themselves in the foot with conventional thinking. Doug Pederson has paid a price for it, so maybe he'll keep Etienne on the field for those high-leverage plays now?
• Zay Jones returned from a knee injury and scored a TD while playing 64% of snaps before halftime, but Jones then hurt his knee again and missed the fourth quarter.
  • Jamal Agnew was also in his first game back from injury and got only 16% of snaps in the second half, while Tim Jones was at 49%.
• Calvin Ridley had a get-right game, sort of. He was hyper-efficient and boosted his output with two rush attempts for 14 yards, but he still only saw about one-fifth of the targets, with his eight tying Evan Engram and Christian Kirk for the team lead.

• Bills Personnel: 11 - 56% / 12 - 26%
• 40 DBs — 11.7 aDOT — 27-of-40 for 359 yards — 2 TDs, 1 INT, 0 sacks

• Dawson Knox had a 27-24 route advantage over Dalton Kincaid and a 6-2 target advantage.
  • The week before, it was 20-13 and 5-1 in Kincaid's favor. Overall, it's pretty close to a 50-50 share, with Knox getting a little more playing time in 11 personnel and Kincaid a bit more in 12. Both mostly linger in the range of 55-70% route share.
• LB Matt Milano suffered a fractured leg, one week after CB Tre'Davious White tore an Achilles. They're two of Buffalo's best players, and the defense now looks rather shaky at cornerback and linebacker. Safeties Jordan Poyer and Micah Hyde need to play out of their minds to keep this defense together the rest of the way.

Stock ⬆️:   RB Travis Etienne

Stock ⬇️:   Bills D/ST

Injury 🚑:   WR Zay Jones (knee) + LG Walker Little (knee) /  LB Matt Milano (broken leg) 

Ravens (10) at Steelers (17) 

• Ravens Personnel: 11 - 52% / 12 - 10% / 21 - 33%
• 42 DBs — 11.1 aDOT — 2-of-38 for 236 yards — 0 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks

• I don't really want to talk about this but I guess I have to. 
  • It wasn't all bad. I got to watch with Guadalajara's Steelers fan club thanks to my buddy Dan. It was nice that someone got to be happy, at least, plus I also loved hearing Spanish commentary on Matt Canada (some things truly do transcend borders... #BlameCanada).
• The RB split looked a lot like Week 2 -- close to 50/50 -- which was the last time Gus Edwards and Justice Hill both were fully healthy. 
  • Edwards took 71% of snaps Week 4, but it now appears that was related to Hill being in his first game back from a turf toe injury.
  • Kenyan Drake was active as the third back instead of Melvin Gordon, who only has one call-up from the practice squad remaining before he'd need to be cut or kept on the active roster.
• Odell Beckham (ankle) and Rashod Bateman (hamstring) both came back from injuries. Neither had much impact, and Beckham missed part of the first half due to some kind of minor injury or equipment problem.
  • OBJ played 70% of snaps in the second half. Bateman took only 26%, while Nelson Agholor was at 63%.
• Zay Flowers had 164 air yards on 11 targets, after 53 on four looks the previous week. Prior to that, he was seeing a lot of short passes and very little downfield. That's promising, and he's clearly the No. 1 WR here in terms of usage, even if it has as much to do with the others struggling as it has to do with the rookie's own performance/skill.
• The Ravens had six drops, officially, plus Justice Hill lost a fumble, Lamar Jackson committed two fourth-quarter turnovers and C Tyler Linderbaum decided to snap the ball on a 4th-and-2 when he was supposed to do a hard count (I actually didn't mind that one... he's a smart, good player and thought he caught a guy offsides... which he maybe kinda did, but you're not getting many close calls in Pittsburgh, even in the Kenny Pickett era).
  • Three of the drops were by Mark Andrews, including one in the end zone, but Agholor and Bateman had the uglier drops. Bateman's was a gimme in the end zone on third down, and Agholor's was a potential long-distance TD. FWIW, drops hadn't previously been an issue for Baltimore this year.
• Steelers OLB Alex Highsmith absolutely worked LT Ronnie Stanley in Stanley's first game back from an injury. Let there be no excuses; Highsmith was listed as questionable with an injury of his own.
  • On the other side, backup RT Patrick Mekari also got embarrassed while filling in for an injured Morgan Moses, though it's not so embarrassing when T.J. Watt is the one making you look like a fool. 
    • There's another example of conventional thinking being wrong for decades. Watt has more impact off the QB's right side than he could off the left side because he's able to foul up so many passing lanes, stay in the QB's vision field and generally never let them forget he's on the field. The importance of the "blindside" was overstated for years; it might not even be a thing at all, in my opinion.
      • The self-branded "analytics" guys also get a lot of stuff wrong, FWIW. Partially because so many of them care about their career prospects and being in agreement with the right people more than they care about, um, actually being right. It's probably one of those things where the best work being done is either by team employees or little-known outsiders, rather than the twitter personalities and fantasy writers most commonly associated with "analytics".

• Steelers Personnel: 11 - 69% / 12 - 19%
• 35 DBs — 9.9 aDOT — 18-of-32 for 224 yards — 1 TD, 0 INT, 3 sacks

• Jaylen Warren actually had a slightly larger snap share in the first half but put up 73 of his 79 total yards in the second half. There were at least three instances after halftime in which he broke a tackle (or two) to pick up a bunch of extra yards.
• Darnell Washington and Connor Heyward formed a 50/50ish timeshare with Pat Freiermuth out due to a hamstring injury. Not much hope there for fantasy, even with Freiermuth likely to miss another game or three.
• George Pickens is so good at what he does best that it might not matter if he's especially good at getting open. Of course, he's also improved in that regard, and he beat Marlon Humphrey deep for the game-winning TD. The target and AY shares are exactly what you hoped for when you drafted Pickens this summer, albeit with the Diontae Johnson qualifier (he's eligible to come off IR after Pittsburgh's Week 6 bye).

Stock ⬆️:   RB Justice Hill / WR Nelson Agholor

Stock ⬇️:   WR Rashod Bateman

Injury 🚑:   OT Patrick Mekari (chest) /  DT Larry Ogunjobi (undisclosed)

Panthers (24) at Lions (42) 

• Panthers Personnel: 11 - 89% / 12 - 2%
• 42 DBs — 7.2 aDOT — 25-of-41 for 247 yards —3 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 sack

• Criticisms of Adam Thielen this year have either been that A) his target share wasn't that great (more based on overall team pass volume), and B) a lot of his production came in garbage time.
  • Sunday's result was a step toward addressing both, though he did have his TD and a chunk of the yards in garbage time. But he also had 6-67-0 in the first half, and now ranks sixth among all players with 21 pre-halftime receptions this year. 
• DJ Chark remains a distant No. 2 to Thielen, running a route on nearly every dropback the past three weeks but seeing only 16.3% of team targets in that stretch.
  • Chark does have a 38.5% AY share the past three weeks, with a 15.3 aDOT, while Thielen has been at 28.5% TS, 33.1% AYS and 7.5 aDOT in the same stretch.
• Hayden Hurst must be wearing an invisibility cloak. This was his third straight game with exactly three targets on 24 or more routes. It adds up to nine targets on 88 routes over a three-week stretch... on a team with a rookie QB and subpar WRs.
• Jonathan Mingo returned from a concussion and pushed Terrace Marshall back to the bench after a 10-target game the week before. Marshall can/should be dropped anywhere he was picked up, and it's probably time to give up on him in deeper dynasty leagues as well.
• Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard both played at least six snaps in each of the first three quarters, with Sanders at 59% share overall and Hubbard at 33%. 
  • Hubbard then took 81% of snaps in the fourth, including six of his nine carries.
  • Sanders had a 6-3 lead in carries and 1-0 lead in targets before Q4.
    • It's been arguably the least productive backfield in the league, and with work split pretty evenly between two guys. Useless for fantasy, it would seem, unless one of them gets hurt and the other ends up playing three-fourths of snaps or something like that.

• Lions Personnel: 11 - 42% / 12 - 43% / 13  -15%
• 30 DBs — 5.4 aDOT — 20-of-28 for 236 yards — 3 TDs, 0 INT, 2 sacks

• David Montgomery played 90% of snaps through three quarters, though he didn't do a ton after a 42-yard TD scamper early in the game.
  • Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) was out, after a Friday addition to the injury report. He hasn't played poorly when he's been on the field, but basically everything else has gone wrong for him so far (from a fantasy standpoint).
• With Amon-Ra St. Brown sidelined, the Lions had four WRs land between 47-to-58 percent snap share and and 43-to-60 percent route share. 
  • Josh Reynolds was listed as questionable with a groin injury. He might've played more if not for that.
  • Jameson Williams was one of those guys but only saw three short targets.
  • Williams, Jones, Reynolds and Raymond each took 28-to-42 percent of their snaps in the slot. 
    • Worth noting: St. Brown has been in the slot just 36% of the time this year, and on the perimeter 53% of the time.
• Sam LaPorta easily led the team in routes and scored twice. Beast.

Stock ⬆️:   WR Adam Thielen

Stock ⬇️:   RB Miles Sanders / WR Terrace Marshall

Injury 🚑:   G Chandler Zavala (neck) /  CB Emmanuel Moseley (ACL tear)

Texans (19) at Falcons (21) 

• Texans Personnel: 11 - 48% / 12 - 2% / 21  - 43%
• 35 DBs — 8.8 aDOT — 20-of-35 for 249 yards — 1 TD, 0 INT, 0 sacks

• Robert Woods hurt his ribs and missed most of the third quarter but then took 12 of 14 snaps in the fourth.
  • Woods actually has more targets than Nico Collins now.
• Tank Dell was concussed and missed the second half, after taking 66% of snaps in the first half.
  • John Metchie filled in as the third receiver but saw only two targets, with rookie Xavier Hutchinson also taking some snaps.
• Dalton Schultz rebounded to 59% snap share and 69% route share, after 48% and 35% the week before. He also had his best receiving line of the year, for a second straight week.
• Dameon Pierce played only 41% of snaps in the first half but 78% in the second.
  • Pierce, Dell and CJ Stroud were the only Texans with rush attempts.
  • Devin Singletary did run 14 routes, five more than Pierce.

• Falcons Personnel: 11 - 18% / 12 - 39% / 21  - 22% / 22 - 15%
• 38 DBs — 7.5 aDOT — 29-of-38 for 351 yards — 1 TD, 0 INTs, 0 sacks

• The Texans slowed down Bijan Robinson but gave up at least six catches and 67 yards to each of Kyle Pitts, Jonnu Smith and Drake London.
• Pitts easily had his best game of the year, but his snap/route shares actually dropped quite a bit. He was at 53% and 63%, respectively, down from 65% and 80% the week before.
• Tyler Allgeier got more carries than Robinson for the first time since Week 1

Stock ⬆️:   TE Dalton Schultz

Stock ⬇️:   WR Nico Collins

Injury 🚑:   WR Tank Dell (concussion) /  RT Kaleb McGary (knee)

Giants (16) at Dolphins (31) 

• Giants Personnel: 11 - 71% / 12 - 28%
• 39 DBs — 7.1 aDOT — 23-of-32 for 205 yards — 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 7 sacks

• Matt Breida fell back to a 50/50 timeshare with rookie Eric Gray, after handling three-fourths of snaps in the previous two games Saquon Barkley (ankle) missed.
  • Breida got only 44% of snaps before halftime, so it wasn't about the game being a blowout.
  • Barkley was closer to playing and should be back Week 6, though I think I said the same thing last week...
• Wan'Dale Robinson played 76% of snaps before the fourth quarter and led the Giants WRs in targets again, but his route share was only 54% because he didn't play nearly as much in the fourth quarter.
  • Darren Waller, on the other hand, played every snap in the fourth quarter en route to a season-best 8-86-0 on 11 targets.
• Jalin Hyatt ran twice as many routes as Isaiah Hodgins, though the rookie got only 37% of snaps before the fourth quarter.
• Keep in mind that the Giants have been playing without three of their top-six O-linemen. Not that it excuses THIS level of stink, but they might be half-decent in the second half of the season. Or not.

• Dolphins Personnel: 11 - 37% / 12 - 9% / 21 - 52%
• 31 DBs — 4.7 aDOT — 22-of-30 for 308 yards — 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 sack

• The split between Raheem Mostert and De'Von Achane essentially stayed the same, even with Mostert fumbling again (recovered by Miami). And Achane, of course, hit another home run.
  • In the first half both played exactly half the snaps, with Achane getting five touches and Mostert three.
  • Achane apparently suffered a knee injury, though he still got a few snaps in the fourth quarter.
• Tyreek Hill put up 8-181-1 on 18 routes (nine targets). He played only 10 snaps (39%) after halftime, and some of the lost playing time before that was simply on account of needing to rest after running circles around defenders.
• If you're not enjoying this team and you're also not a Bills fan, you miiiight be a curmudgeon.

Stock ⬆️:   WR Jalin Hyatt

Stock ⬇️:   RB Matt Breida

Injury 🚑:   QB Daniel Jones (neck) + WR Wan'Dale Robinson (concussion) + RG Marcus McKethan (knee) + OLB Azeez Ojulari (ankle) /  G Isaiah Wynn (neck)

Saints (34) at Patriots (0) 

• Saints Personnel: 11 - 41% / 12 - 17%
• 28 DBs — 9.1 aDOT — 18-of-26 for 183 yards — 2 TDs, 0 INT, 2 sacks

• Alvin Kamara played 76% of snaps before the fourth quarter, accounting for 21 of the 25 RB carries and two of the five targets (Kendre Miller was surprisingly productive as a pass catcher, with 53 yards on eight routes).
  • Miller got eight of his 12 carries in Q4 garbage time.
• Chris Olave took 89% of snaps before the fourth quarter, despite playing through a toe injury.
  • Michael Thomas was at 80% and Rashid Shaheed at 63% before Q4.
    • Thomas is up to 24% target share and looks good, but he doesn't have a TD or huge play yet and may be underrated in fantasy leagues. I'm very comfortable starting him as a WR3, personally, and think WR2 production isn't totally out of the question.
• Foster Moreau, Jimmy Graham and Taysom Hill formed a TE timeshare with Juwan Johnson (calf) out for a second straight game.

• Patriots Personnel: 11 - 69% / 12 - 26%
• 33 DBs — 10,2 aDOT — 15-of-31 for 132 yards — 0 TD, 2 INTs, 2 sacks

• Demario Douglas' early exit freed up more snaps for JuJu Smith-Schuster, who then suffered his own concussion and missed the fourth quarter.
  • DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne both were full-time players, which has been consistent for Parker when healthy this year, but not so much for Bourne.
  • Ty Montgomery finished out the game as New England's No. 3 receiver, getting 12 snaps to Mike Gesicki's five in the fourth quarter.
• The Patriots never pulled skill-position starters besides QB Mac Jones, so the overall split between Stevenson and Elliott accurately reflects roles. Both remain unproductive in this disaster of an offense, and it does seem to generally be creeping toward 50/50 the past few weeks, rather than Stevenson being the lead guy and Zeke his backup.

Stock ⬆️:   RB Alvin Kamara

Stock ⬇️:   RB Rhamondre Stevenson

Injury 🚑:   WRs Demario Douglas & JuJu Smith-Schuster (head) + G Mike Onwenu (ankle) + LB Ja'Whaun Bentley (shoulder)

Titans (16) at Colts (23) 

• Titans Personnel: 11 - 41% / 12 - 41% / 21 - 10%
• 36 DBs — 8.2 aDOT — 25-of-35 for 264 yards — 0 TDs, 1 INT, 1 sack

• Tyjae Spears scored from 19 yards out in the third quarter and played at least one-third of snaps in each quarter. The Titans ran a bunch of plays with him and Derrick Henry on the field together, especially in the first quarter (when they combined for 22 snaps on 17 plays).
  • Henry has lost a step, the Titans aren't especially good at blocking and Spears takes a big chunk of the playing time every week. I'm not seeing an immediate path back to the RB1 realm for Henry.
• Chigoziem Okonkwo finally got involved in the passing game in a meaningful way with a season-high nine targets, including five in the fourth quarter. His target share (15.7%) is now in 'acceptable' range for a fantasy TE, though 16% of Tennessee's passing game isn't a thrilling prospect no matter how we dice it.
• DeAndre Hopkins' dominant target share finally translated to a big game.
  • His route and snap shares also were season highs, though his huge gains relative to the previous week were related to the game being closer and him being healthier, not necessarily the Titans wanting to ride him harder in general.
• Nick Westbrook-Ikhine dropped to 63% snap share in 11 personnel with Kyle Phillips (54%) making his season debut. Chris Moore actually got more snaps (83%) in 11, while NWI got far more work in two-wide sets (79% of snaps, the same as Hopkins).

• Colts Personnel: 11 - 80% / 12 - 20%
• 27 DBs — 6.6 aDOT — 20-of-26 for 253 yards — 0 TDs, 0 INTs, 1 sack

• The outcome here is that we'll probably be nervous to start either Zack Moss or Jonathan Taylor next week, yet both figure to be started more often than not, #upside.
  • Moss played at least 73% of snaps in each quarter, ripped off a long TD run and added 30 receiving yards. If Taylor takes back the lead role, Indy could probably get something for Moss in a trade (hey Tampa, how's it going?). 
    • That's not to shoot down concerns about Taylor. There's a lot of different ways this could play out, and some of them are quite bad for JT relative to prior expectations.
• Anthony Richardson suffered a Grade 3 AC Joint sprain midway through the second quarter, giving Gardner Minshew yet another chance to lead the offense.
  • Michael Pittman has seen 30% of the Minshew targets this year, with Josh Downs getting 25% and everyone else basically irrelevant (Alec Pierce is No. 3 with 13%).
  • I said all offseason that Pittman's best hope for a big year was Minshew playing part of the season. Pittman does have 27% of the Richardson targets, to be fair, so it might not be much of a difference. Downs has only 16% of the Richardson targets, with Kylen Granson taking 17%).
• Feels like a few years running now in which the Colts have featured a TE timeshare that was utterly useless for fantasy. Not that it bothers me... kinda makes sense given the rosters they've had. But wouldn't it be cool if they traded up for Brock Bowers to pair with Richardson?

Stock ⬆️:   RB Zack Moss / WR Josh Downs

Stock ⬇️:   RB Jonathan Taylor

Injury 🚑:   QB Anthony Richardson (shoulder) + TE Mo Alie-Cox (concussion)

Bengals (34) at Cardinals (20) 

• Bengals Personnel: 11 - 71% / 12 - 17%
• 49 DBs — 7,1 aDOT — 36-of-46 for 317 yards — 3 TDs, 1 INT, 3 sacks

• Ja'Marr Chase might not have put himself back in the best-WR-in-the-league conversation, but he's definitely the best WR who isn't in that conversation. 
• Irv Smith is doing Hayden Hurst things... but not what Hurst did for the Bengals this year, rather what Hurst is doing for the Panthers right now (next to nothing).
  • Smith did run 30 routes, 61% share, in his first game back after missing two weeks.
• I still have no clue what the backfield would look like if Mixon were to miss time. 
• Trenton Irwin got 80% route share and 10 targets (8-60-0) filling in for Tee Higgins (ribs). The Bengals still overwhelmingly used 11 personnel, as their backup TEs are no better than Irwin (and probably worse).

• Cardinals Personnel: 11 - 70% / 12 - 9% / 13 - 18%
• 35 DBs — 9.2 aDOT — 15-of-32 for 166 yards — 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 3 sacks

• Emari Demercado played all 29 snaps in the second half, after James Conner left with a knee injury in the second quarter.
  • Keaontay Ingram was inactive with a neck injury. But he's also been bad this year, and was losing backup work to Demercado before the injury. That makes the undrafted rookie a priority waiver add this week.
• Rondale Moore now has 116 yards on eight carries and 81 yards on 17 targets.
• Michael Wilson was targeted once on 28 routes, after seven catches and two TDs the week before. His 12% target share isn't promising; I'm interested in dynasty but not season-long.

Stock ⬆️:   RB Emari Demercado

Stock ⬇️:   WR Michael Wilson

Injury 🚑:   RB James Conner (knee) + CB Antonio Hamilton (concussion) + S Jalen Thompson (hamstring)

Eagles (23) at Rams (14) 

• Eagles Personnel: 11 - 76% / 12 - 18%
• 39 DBs — 7.7 aDOT — 25-of-38 for 303 yards — 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 sack

• D'Andre Swift got six of his 17 carries in the final quarter, and Kenneth Gainwell got five of his seven totes in the final frame. The Eagles mostly relied on Jalen Hurts before the end, with Swift getting by thanks to six catches and a late surge of rushing.
• Dallas Goedert didn't even need to squeak to get the squeaky wheel treatment. Take note, those of you thinking about benching DeVonta Smith.
• Quez Watkins returned from a hamstring injury and took the No. 3 role back from Olamide Zaccheaus. Both have really cool names and really low target rates, and yup I got paid to write this sentence.
  • Blocking TE Jack Stoll should change his name to Jack's Toll if he wants to be taken more seriously outside of Philadelphia. 

• Rams Personnel: 11 - 100% / 12 - 0%
• 41 DBs — 9.5 aDOT — 21-of-37 for 222 yards — 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 4 sacks

• Kyren Williams played 77% of snaps through three quarters, then 17 of 17 snaps in the fourth. So it does seem they're resting him a bit more, though Ronnie Rivers got only one carry after taking 11 touches the week before at Indianapolis.
• Cooper Kupp is back in business. The snap/route/target shares were all top-notch, and he put up his typical 2021-22 stat line (minus the TD).
  • Puka Nacua played every single snap, scored a TD and was targeted 11 times.
  • Kupp and Nacua combined for 23 of the 34 targets.
• I was wrong about Tyler Higbee blocking more against Philadelphia; he ran a route on 88% of dropbacks but was targeted on only five of 36.
• Tutu Atwell scored a TD, played 89% of snaps and ran a route on 95% of dropbacks, whereas Van Jefferson played two snaps.
  • Atwell may be a distant No. 3 (and still SMOL) but he should average 5-to-7 targets if he maintains the near-every-down role in this pass-heavy offense.

Stock ⬆️:   WR Puka Nacua

Stock ⬇️:   WR Van Jefferson

Jets (31) at Broncos (21) 

• Jets Personnel: 11 - 53% / 12 - 16% / 21 - 23%
• 30 DBs — 6.7 aDOT — 19-of-26 for 199 yards — 0 TDs, 1 INT, 4 sacks

• Breece Hall saw a modest bump in snaps (52%) but a huge jump in touches (25), after Robert Saleh said last week that the young RB had no more restrictions.
  • Hall hit a top speed of 21.5 mph on his 72-yard TD run, the second-fastest of his career and eighth-fastest by a ballcarrier this season (fastest by any non-Dolphin). 
    • He had a long run Week 1 on which he looked good by most standards but perhaps a step slow by his own. A month later, Hall looks good by any standard besides maybe Adrian Peterson's or Barry Sanders' (#goals for November... a month notorious for bold men with bold goals).
• Garrett Wilson is still maintaining the dominant type of shares that allow someone to be a fantasy starter even with Zach Wilson at QB.
• Tyler Conklin has four straight games with either five or six targets, and he's been uncharacteristically efficient (73.9% catch rate, 11.9 YPR, 8.8 YPT) apart from the lack of a TD.
  • Don't get too excited. He's a mediocre player in a terrible passing game.  

• Broncos Personnel: 11 - 61% / 12 - 25%
• 35 DBs — 6.1 aDOT — 20-of-31 for 196 yards — 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 4 sacks

• Sean Payton is one tricky son of a gun, listing Javonte Williams (hip) as a full participant Friday before making him inactive Sunday.
  • Other coaches notice this stuff, so if you're going to do it you should do it with someone who significantly impacts the gameplan, not an RB in a timeshare who is still working his way back into form after an ACL tear. 
  • Drew Brees looks better and better with each passing day. He won a ring with this guy as his coach?
• Jaleel McLaughlin played 41% of snaps before the fourth quarter, with a 7-5 advantage in carries and 4-1 edge in targets over Samaje Perine.
  • The undrafted rookie is averaging 7.3 on 22 carries, and in the past two weeks alone he's scored two receiving TDs and ripped off runs of 38 and 31 yards. There's a non-zero chance he's a better player than the post-ACL version of Javonte.
• Brandon Johnson is still ahead of Marvin Mims. I get that we don't know everything from a distance and Johnson has advantages in terms of scheme familiarity and size, but man this feels so stupid.
• Not counting Week 1 when Jerry Jeudy was out, here are the shares:
  • Sutton: 22.4% TS, 30.5% AYS
  • Jeudy: 20.7% TS, 29.9% AYS
  • Perine: 12.1% TS
  • Mims: 8.6% TS, 23.1% AYS
  • Trautman: 7.8% TS, 5.6% AYS

Stock ⬆️:   RB Jaleel McLaughlin / RB Breece Hall

Stock ⬇️:   WR Courtland Sutton / RB Dalvin Cook

Injury 🚑:   RT Alijah Vera-Tucker (calf) /  DT D.J. Jones (knee)

Chiefs (27) at Vikings (20) 

• Chiefs Personnel: 11 - 55% / 12 - 33% / 13 - 11%
• 43 DBs — 6.2 aDOT — 31-of-41 for 281 yards — 2 TDs, 0 INTs, 2 sacks

• Travis Kelce missed a chunk of the game with an ankle injury but then came back and went on a tear that ended with a TD.
• The Chiefs had four WRs between 40-to-65 percent route share, and that doesn't even include Rashee Rice (23%, five targets) or Justyn Ross (14%, four targets).
• Kind of weird that Rice has the most targets (24, 13%) among the team's WRs but continues to be only fourth or fifth in terms of snaps most weeks. He's an obvious hold for benches, given the excellent per-route stats and Patrick Mahomes' continued existence.

• Vikings Personnel: 11 - 71% / 12 - 21%
• 50 DBs — 7.9 aDOT — 29-of- 47 for 284 yards — 2 TDs, 0 INT, 3 sacks

• Justin Jefferson injured his hamstring, which almost definitely means at least one missed game.
  • Jordan Addison was still only the No. 3 in terms of routes, tying No. 2 K.J. Osborn for a team-high nine targets and putting up 6-64-1. 
    • Addison should get a couple extra routes per game with Jefferson out, and the target-per-route projection also goes up.
    • The combination of Jefferson's injury and another loss gives a little more juice to any Vikings-related rumors, e.g. trading Kirk Cousins to the Jets or Falcons.
• Brandon Powell filled in for Jefferson and saw a bunch of targets in the fourth quarter with the Vikes chasing a deficit.
• Cam Akers' role didn't grow in Week 2 of his Vikings tenure.  Neither he nor Alexander Mattison had much luck on the ground, but Mattison scored a receiving TD.

Stock ⬆️:   WR Jordan Addison

Stock ⬇️:   Justin Jefferson's hopes of breaking records this year

Injury 🚑:   TE Travis Kelce (ankle) / WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) + CB Akayleb Evans (knee)

Cowboys (10) at 49ers (42) 

• Cowboys Personnel: 11 - 53% / 12 - 25%/ 10 - 10%
• 29 DBs — 10.6 aDOT — 16-of-26 for 161 yards — 1 TD, 3 INTs, 3 sacks

• A Niners-Cowboys game might sound fun, but a Steelers-Ravens game NEVER disappoints. Take note, schedule-making nerds.
• Tony Pollard got 88% of snaps before the fourth quarter, with seven of the nine RB carries and four of the five targets.
  • Other Pre-Q4 snap shares: Lamb - 85%, Gallup - 74%, Ferguson - 71%, Cooks - 69%
• KaVontae Turpin scored a 26-yard TD on one of his two routes before leaving with an ankle injury. He's the team's return specialist, in addition to the flashes he's shown off the bench as a receiver this year.

• 49ers Personnel: 11 - 36% / 12 - 22% / 21 - 33%
• 26 DBs — 8.8 aDOT — 18-of-25 for 253 yards — 4 TDs, 0 INT, 1 sack

• Pre-Q4 snap shares
  • Aiyuk - 95%
  • Kittle - 93%
  • McCaffrey - 88%
  • Deebo - 88%
  • Juice Check - 46%
  • Jennings - 44%
• Jordan Mason had four snaps and four carries before halftime, FWIW. Elijah Mitchell (knee) was out again.

Stock ⬆️:   RB Jordan Mason

Stock ⬇️:   Cowboys D/ST 

Injury 🚑:   LB Leighton Vander Esch (neck) + WR/RS KaVontae Turpin (ankle)

Packers (13) at Raiders (17) 

• Packers Personnel: 11 - 54% / 12 - 37%
• 32 DBs — 8.8 aDOT — 16-of-30 for 182 yards — 0 TDs, 3 INTs, 2 sacks

• The good times ended for managers starting Jordan Love, who was fantasy QB4 through four weeks despite playing poorly from a real-life standpoint.
• Christian Watson took on a full-time role in his second game back from a hamstring injury, with Romeo Doubs also above 80 percent route share while Jayden Reed was the No. 3 receiver.
• AJ Dillon finally put up a solid line with Aaron Jones (hamstring) unavailable, but AJD still looks a step slow compared to previous seasons, methinks.
• Luke Musgrave took on 70% snap share, 63% route share and a team-high-tying seven targets in his first game back from a concussion.

• Raiders Personnel: 11 - 61% / 12 - 20% / 21 - 11%
• 35 DBs — 5.2 aDOT — 22-of-31 for  yards — 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks

• Josh Jacobs has become predictable, if nothing else, getting by on a ton of volume while averaging under 4.0 YPC week after week. 
  • Jacobs leads all RBs in targets, despite ceding LDD work to Ameer Abdullah. That's largely because Jacobs otherwise doesn't come off the field. And also because Jimmy Garoppolo has a noodle arm.
• Rookie TE Michael Mayer finally got more routes and targets than Austin Hooper.
• Jakobi Meyers rebounded strong with 7-75-1 and the team target lead after disappearing the week before. He's second on the team in targets, easily, despite missing a game already.

Stock ⬆️:   WR Jakobi Meyers / TE Luke Musgrave

Stock ⬇️:   WR Jayden Reed

Injury 🚑:   S Darnell Savage (calf) + LB Quay Walker (knee)